The Corfu Trilogy Part 48

'I found she had married,' said Mr Kralefsky, rather shamefacedly, for he realized that this was somewhat of an anticlimax.

'Some women are capricious and impatient, you know. But I managed to have a few moments of private conversation with her and she explained it all.'

I waited expectantly.

'She said,' Mr Kralefsky continued, 'that she had thought I had gone for good to become a Lama so she married. Yes, the little dear would have waited for me had she known, but, torn with grief, she married the first man who came along. If I had not misjudged the length of the voyage she would have been mine today.'

He blew his nose violently, a stricken look on his face. I digested this story, but it did not seem to give any very clear clues as to how to help Adrian. Should I perhaps lend him my boat, the Bootle-b.u.mtrinket Bootle-b.u.mtrinket, and suggest that he rowed over to Albania? Apart from the risk of losing my precious boat, I did not think that Adrian was strong enough to row that far. No, I agreed with Kralefsky that Adrian was being too eager but, knowing how capricious my sister was, I felt she would greet her admirer's disappearance from the island with delight rather than with despair. Adrian's real difficulty lay in the fact that he could never get Margo alone. I decided that I would have to take Adrian in hand if he was going to achieve anything like success.

The first thing was for him to stop following Margo around like a lamb following a sheep and to feign indifference, so I inveigled him into accompanying me when I went out to explore the surrounding countryside. This was easy enough to do. Margo, in self-defence, had taken to rising at dawn and disappearing from the villa before Adrian put in an appearance so he was left pretty much to himself. Mother had tried to interest him in cooking but after he had left the icebox open and melted half our perishable foodstuffs, set fire to a frying pan full of fat, turned a perfectly good joint of lamb into something closely resembling biltong, and dropped half a dozen eggs on to the kitchen floor, she was only too glad to back up my suggestion that Adrian should accompany me.

I found Adrian an admirable companion, considering that he had been brought up in a city. He never complained, he would patiently obey my terse instructions to 'Hold that!' or 'Don't move it'll bite you!' to the letter, and seemed genuinely interested in the creatures we pursued.

As Mr Kralefsky had predicted, Margo became intrigued by Adrian's sudden absence. Although she did not care for his attentions she felt perversely piqued when she was not receiving them. She wanted to know what Adrian and I did all day long. I replied rather austerely that Adrian was helping me in my zoological investigations. I said that moreover he was shaping up very well and if this went on I would have no hesitation in proclaiming him a very competent naturalist by the end of the summer.

'I don't know how you can go around with anyone so wet,' she said. 'I find him an incredible bore.'

I said that was probably just as well as Adrian had confessed to me that he was finding Margo a bit boring too.

'What?' said Margo, outraged. 'How dare he say that, how dare he!'

Well, I pointed out philosophically, she had only herself to blame. After all, who would not find someone boring if they carried on like she did, never going swimming with him, never going walking with him, always being rude.

'I'm not rude,' said Margo angrily. 'I just speak the truth. And if he wants a walk I'll give him one. Boring indeed!'

I was so pleased with the success of my scheme that I overlooked the fact that Margo, like the rest of my family, could be a powerful antagonist when aroused. That evening she was so unexpectedly polite and charming to Adrian that everyone, with the victim's exception, was amazed and alarmed. Skilfully, Margo steered the conversation round to walks and then said that, as Adrian's time in the island was growing short, it was essential that he saw more of it. What better method than walking? Yes, stammered Adrian, that was really the best way of seeing a country.

'I intend to go for a walk the day after tomorrow,' said Margo airily, 'a lovely walk. It's a pity you're so busy with Gerry, otherwise you could have come with me.'

'Oh, don't let that worry you. Gerry can fend for himself,' said Adrian, with what I privately considered to be callous and impolite indifference. 'I'd love to come!'

'Oh good,' fluted Margo. 'I'm sure you'll enjoy it; it's one of the nicest strolls around here.'

'Where?' inquired Leslie.

'Liapades,' said Margo airily, 'I haven't been there for ages.'

'Liapades?' echoed Leslie. 'A stroll? It's right the other side of the island. It'll take you hours.'

'Well, I thought we'd take a picnic and make a day of it,' said Margo, adding archly, 'that is, if Adrian doesn't mind.'

It was obvious that Adrian would not mind if Margo had suggested swimming underwater to Italy and back in full armour. I said I thought I would accompany them, as it was an interesting walk from a zoological point of view. Margo shot me a baleful look.

'Well, if you come you must behave yourself,' she said enigmatically.

Adrian was, needless to say, full of the walk and Margo's kindness in asking him. I was not so sure. I pointed out that Liapades was a long way and that it was very hot, but Adrian said he did not mind a bit. Privately, I wondered, since he was rather frail, whether he would last the pace but I could not say this without insulting him. At five o'clock on the appointed day we a.s.sembled on the veranda. Adrian was wearing an enormous pair of hob-nailed boots he had acquired from somewhere, long trousers and a thick flannel shirt. To my astonishment, when I ventured to suggest that this ensemble was not suitable for a walk across the island in a temperature of over a hundred in the shade, Margo disagreed. Adrian was wearing perfect walking kit, chosen by herself, she said. The fact that she was clad in a diaphanous bathing suit and sandals and I was in shorts and an open-necked shirt did not deter her. She was armed with a ma.s.sive pack on her back, which I imagined contained our food and drink, and a stout stick. I was carrying my collecting bag and b.u.t.terfly net.

Thus equipped, we set out, Margo setting an unreasonably fast pace, I thought. Within a short s.p.a.ce of time Adrian was sweating profusely and his face turned pink. Margo, in spite of my protests, stuck to open country and shunned the shade-giving olive groves. In the end I kept pace with them but walked in the shade of the trees a few hundred yards away. Adrian, afraid of being accused of being soft, followed doggedly and moistly at Margo's heels. After four hours, he was limping badly and dragging his feet; his grey shirt was black with sweat and his face was an alarming shade of magenta.

'Would you like a rest?' Margo inquired at this point.

'Just a drink, perhaps,' said Adrian in a parched voice like a corncrake.

I said I thought this was a splendid idea so Margo stopped and sat down on a red hot rock in the open sun-soaked ground on which you could have roasted a team of oxen. She fumbled surrept.i.tiously in her pack and produced three small bottles of Gazoza Gazoza, a fizzy and extremely sweet local lemonade.

'Here,' she said, handing us a bottle each. 'This'll buck you up.'

In addition to being fizzy and over-sweet, the Gazoza Gazoza was very warm so, if anything, it increased rather than a.s.suaged our thirst. By the time it was nearing midday we were in sight of the opposite coast of the island. The news brought a spark of hope into the lackl.u.s.tre eyes of Adrian. Once we reached the sea we could rest and swim, Margo explained. We reached the wild coastline and made our way down through the jumble of gigantic red and brown rocks strewn along the sea sh.o.r.e like an uprooted giants' cemetery. Adrian threw himself down in the shade of an enormous block of rock topped with a wig of myrtle and a baby umbrella pine and tore off his shirt and boots. His feet, we discovered, were almost the same startling red as his face, and badly blistered. Margo suggested that he soak them in a rock pool to harden them and this he did while Margo and I swam. Then, much refreshed, we squatted in the shade of the rocks and I said I thought some food and drink would be welcome. was very warm so, if anything, it increased rather than a.s.suaged our thirst. By the time it was nearing midday we were in sight of the opposite coast of the island. The news brought a spark of hope into the lackl.u.s.tre eyes of Adrian. Once we reached the sea we could rest and swim, Margo explained. We reached the wild coastline and made our way down through the jumble of gigantic red and brown rocks strewn along the sea sh.o.r.e like an uprooted giants' cemetery. Adrian threw himself down in the shade of an enormous block of rock topped with a wig of myrtle and a baby umbrella pine and tore off his shirt and boots. His feet, we discovered, were almost the same startling red as his face, and badly blistered. Margo suggested that he soak them in a rock pool to harden them and this he did while Margo and I swam. Then, much refreshed, we squatted in the shade of the rocks and I said I thought some food and drink would be welcome.

'There is none,' said Margo.

There was a stunned silence for a moment. 'What d'you mean, there is none?' asked Adrian. 'What's in that pack?'

'Oh, those are just my bathing things,' said Margo. 'I decided I wouldn't bring any food because it was so heavy to carry in this heat, and anyway, we'll be back for supper if we start soon.'

'And what about something to drink?' inquired Adrian hoa.r.s.ely. 'Haven't you got any more Gazoza Gazoza?'

'No, of course not,' said Margo irritably. 'I brought three three. That's one each, isn't it? And they're terribly heavy to carry. I don't know what you're fussing about anyway; you eat far too much. A little rest'll do you good. It'll give you a chance to un-bloat.'

Adrian came as close to losing his temper as I had ever seen him.

'I don't want want to un-bloat, whatever that means,' he said icily, 'and if I did I wouldn't walk half across the island to do it.' to un-bloat, whatever that means,' he said icily, 'and if I did I wouldn't walk half across the island to do it.'

'That's just the trouble with you. You're namby-pamby,' snorted Margo. 'Take you for a little walk and you're screaming for food and wine. You just want to live in the hub of luxury all the time.'

'I don't think a drink on a day like this is a luxury,' said Adrian. 'It's a necessity.'

Finding this argument profitless, I took the three empty Gazoza Gazoza bottles half a mile down the coast to where I knew there was a tiny spring. When I reached it I found a man squatting by it, having his midday meal. He had a brown, seamed, wind-patterned face, and a sweeping black moustache. He was wearing the thick, sheepswool socks that the peasants wore when working in the fields and beside him lay his short, wide-bladed hoe. bottles half a mile down the coast to where I knew there was a tiny spring. When I reached it I found a man squatting by it, having his midday meal. He had a brown, seamed, wind-patterned face, and a sweeping black moustache. He was wearing the thick, sheepswool socks that the peasants wore when working in the fields and beside him lay his short, wide-bladed hoe.

'Kalimera,' he greeted me without surprise, and waved his hand in a courteous gesture towards the spring, as if he owned it.

I greeted him and then lay face downwards on the small carpet of green moss that the moisture had created, and lowered my face to where the bright spring throbbed like a heart under some maidenhair ferns. I drank long and deeply and I could never remember water having tasted so good. I soaked my head and neck with it and sat up with a satisfied sigh.

'Good water,' said the man. 'Sweet, huh? Like a fruit.'

I said the water was delicious and started to wash the Gazoza Gazoza bottles and fill them. bottles and fill them.

'There's a spring up there,' said the man, pointing up the precipitous mountainside, 'but the water is different, bitter as a widow's tongue. But this is sweet, kind water. You are a foreigner?'

While I filled the bottles I answered his questions but my mind was busy with something else. Nearby lay the remains of his food half a loaf of maize bread, yellow as a primrose, some great fat white cloves of garlic and a handful of large, wrinkled olives as black as beetles. At the sight of them my mouth started to water and I became acutely aware of the fact that I had been up since dawn with nothing to eat. Eventually the man noticed the glances I kept giving his food supply and, with the typical generosity of the peasants, pulled out his knife.

'Bread?' he asked. 'You want bread?'

I said that I would love some bread but that the problem was that there were three of me, as it were. My sister and her husband, I lied, were also starving somewhere among the rocks. He snapped his knife shut, gathered together the remains of his lunch and held it out to me.

'Take it for them,' he said grinning. 'I've finished and it's not right for the good name of Corfu that foreigners should starve.'

I thanked him profusely, put the olives and garlic into my handkerchief, tucked the bread and the Gazoza Gazoza bottles under my arm and set off. bottles under my arm and set off.

'Go to the good,' the man called after me. 'Keep away from the trees, we'll be having a storm later.'

Looking up at the blue and burnished sky, I thought the man was wrong but did not say so. When I got back I found Adrian sitting glumly with his feet in a rock pool and Margo sunbathing on a rock and singing tunelessly to herself. They greeted the food and water with delight and fell on it, tearing at the golden bread and gulping the olives and garlic like famished wolves.

'There,' said Margo brightly when we had finished, as if she had been responsible for providing the viands, 'that was nice. Now I suppose we'd better be getting back.'

Immediately, a snag became apparent; Adrian's feet, cool and happy from the rock pool, had swollen and it took the united efforts of Margo and myself to get his boots on again. Even when we had succeeded in forcing his feet into the boots he could only progress at a painfully slow pace, limping along like an elderly tortoise.

'I do wish you'd hurry up,' shouted Margo irritably after we had progressed a mile or so and Adrian was lagging behind.

'I can't go any faster. My feet are killing me,' Adrian said miserably.

In spite of our protests, that he would get sunburned, he had taken off his flannel shirt and exposed his milk-white skin to the elements. It was when we were a couple of miles from the villa that the peasant's prophecy about the storm became fact. These summer storms would be hatched in a nest of c.u.mulus clouds in the Albanian mountains and ferried rapidly across to Corfu by a warm, scouring wind like the blast from a baker's oven. The wind hit us now, stinging our skins and blinding us with dust and bits of leaf. The olives changed from green to silver like the sudden gleam of a turning school of fish, and the wind roared its way through a million leaves with a noise like a giant breaker on the sh.o.r.e. The blue sky was suddenly, miraculously, blotted out by bruise-coloured clouds that were splintered by jagged spears of lavender-coloured lightning. The hot, fierce wind increased and the olive groves shook and hissed as though shaken by some huge, invisible predator. Then came the rain, plummeting out of the sky in great gouts, hitting us with the force of sling-shot. A background to all this was the thunder, stalking imperiously across the sky, rumbling and snarling above the scudding clouds like a million stars colliding, crumbling and avalanching through s.p.a.ce.

This was one of the best storms we had ever experienced and Margo and I were thoroughly enjoying it, for after the heat and stillness we found the stinging rain and the noise exhilarating. Adrian did not share our view; he was one of those unfortunate people who were terrified of lightning, so to him the whole thing was monstrous and alarming. We tried to take his mind off the storm by singing but the thunder was so loud that he could not hear us. We struggled on grimly and at last, through the gloomy, rain-striped, olive groves we saw the welcoming lights of the villa. As we reached it and Adrian staggered in through the front door, seeming more dead than alive, Mother appeared in the hall.

'Where have have you children been? I was getting quite worried,' she said, and then, catching sight of Adrian; 'Good heavens, Adrian dear, what you children been? I was getting quite worried,' she said, and then, catching sight of Adrian; 'Good heavens, Adrian dear, what have have you been doing?' you been doing?'

She might well have asked, for those parts of Adrian's anatomy that were not scarlet with sunburn were interesting shades of blue and green; he could hardly walk and his teeth were chattering so violently that he could not talk. Being scolded and commiserated in turns, he was whisked away to bed by Mother, where he lay, with mild sun-stroke, a severe cold and septic feet, for the next few days.

'Really, Margo, you do make me angry sometimes,' said Mother. 'You know he's not strong. You might have killed him.'

'Serves him jolly well right,' said Margo callously. 'He shouldn't have said I was boring. It's an eye for an ear.'

Adrian, however, unwittingly got his own back; when he recovered he found a shop in the town that stocked gramophone needles.

8.

The Merriment of Friendship The sound of cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick.

EZEKIEL 5.

It was towards the end of summer that we held what came to be known as our Indian party. Our parties, whether carefully planned or burgeoning onthe spur of the moment out ofnothing, were always interesting affairs since things seldom went exactly as we planned them. In those days, living as we did in the country, without the dubious benefits of radio or television, we had to rely on such primitive forms of amus.e.m.e.nt as books, quarrelling, parties, and the laughter of our friends, so naturally parties particularly the more flamboyant ones became red-letter days, preceded by endless preparations. Even when they were successfully over, they provided days of delightfully acrimonious argument as to how they could have been better managed.

We had had a fairly tranquil patch for a month or so; we had not had a party, and no one had turned up to stay, so Mother had relaxed and become very benign. We were sitting on the veranda one morning reading our mail when the party was hatched. In her mail Mother had just received a mammoth cookery book ent.i.tled A Million Mouthwatering Oriental Recipes A Million Mouthwatering Oriental Recipes, lavishly ill.u.s.trated with colour reproductions so lurid and glossy that you felt you could eat them. Mother was enchanted with it and kept reading bits aloud to us.

'Madras Marvels!' she exclaimed delightedly. 'Oh, they're lovely. I remember them, they were a favourite of your father's when we lived in Darjeeling. And, look! Konsarmer's Delights! I've been looking for a recipe for them for years years. They're simply delicious, but so rich.'

'If they're anything like the ill.u.s.trations,' said Larry, 'you'd have to live on a diet of bicarbonate of soda for the next twenty years after you ate one.'

'Don't be silly, dear. The ingredients are absolutely pure four pounds of b.u.t.ter, sixteen eggs, eight pints of cream, the flesh of ten young coconuts...'

'G.o.d!' said Larry, 'it sounds like a breakfast for a Strasbourg goose.'

'I'm sure you'll like them, dear. Your father was very fond of them.'

'Well, I'm supposed to be on a diet,' said Margo. 'You can't go forcing me me to have stuff like that.' to have stuff like that.'

'n.o.body's forcing you, dear,' said Mother. 'You can always say no.'

'Well, you know I can't say no, so that's forcing.'

'Go and eat in another room,' suggested Leslie, flipping through the pages of a gun catalogue, 'if you haven't got the will power to say no.'

'But I have have got the will power to say no,' said Margo indignantly. 'I just can't say no when Mother offers it to me.' got the will power to say no,' said Margo indignantly. 'I just can't say no when Mother offers it to me.'

'Jeejee sends his salaams,' said Larry, looking up from the letter he was perusing. 'He says he's coming back here for his birthday.'

'His birthday!' exclaimed Margo. 'Ooh, good! I'm glad he remembered.'

'Such a nice nice boy,' said Mother. 'When's he coming?' boy,' said Mother. 'When's he coming?'

'As soon as he gets out of hospital,' said Larry.

'Hospital? Is he ill?'

'No, he's just having trouble with his levitation; he's got a busted leg. He says his birthday's on the sixteenth so he'll try and make it by the fifteenth.'

'I am am glad,' said Mother. 'I grew very fond of Jeejee and I'm sure he'll love this book.' glad,' said Mother. 'I grew very fond of Jeejee and I'm sure he'll love this book.'

'I know, let's give him a huge birthday party,' said Margo excitedly. 'You know, a really huge huge party.' party.'

'That's a good idea,' said Leslie. 'We haven't had a decent party for ages.'

'And I could make some of the recipes out of this book,' contributed Mother, obviously intrigued by the thought.

'An oriental feast,' exclaimed Larry. 'Tell everyone to come in turbans, with jewels in their navels.'

'No, I think that's going too far,' said Mother. 'No, let's just have a nice, quiet little...'

'You can't have a nice, quiet little party for Jeejee,' said Leslie. 'Not after you told him you always travelled with four hundred elephants. He expects something a bit spectacular.'

'It wasn't four hundred elephants, dear. I only said we went camping camping with elephants. You children do exaggerate. And, anyway, we can't produce elephants here; he wouldn't expect with elephants. You children do exaggerate. And, anyway, we can't produce elephants here; he wouldn't expect that that.'

'No, but you've got to put on some sort of show,' said Leslie.

'I'll do all the decorations,' offered Margo. 'Everything will be oriental I'll borrow Mrs Papadrouya's Burmese screens and there are the ostrich feathers that Lena's got...'

'We've still got a wild boar and some duck and stuff left in the cold room in town,' said Leslie. 'Better use it up.'

'I'll borrow Countess Lefraki's piano,' said Larry.